The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) is an organization formed from the merger of three political independence movements seeking independence for Western New Guinea (West Papua) from Indonesia.[1] The ULMWP was formed on 7 December 2014 in Vanuatu uniting the Federal Republic of West Papua (NRFPB), the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) and the National Parliament of West Papua (NPWP).[1]
In October 2013, the West Papua National Council for Liberation made an unsuccessful application to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).[4] Indonesia had earlier been granted observer status in 2011 for Papua (province) and West Papua (province).[4] The MSG advised that West Papua independence organisations must first unite for any future applications to be considered.[5]
In December 2014, three West Papuan independence movement groups united under a single umbrella organisation, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua in Vanuatu.[5]
In February 2015, Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa according to Benny Wenda, stated he was shocked that West Papua is still not free.[6] In 2004, the Bishop had asked the UN to review the Act of Free Choice.[7]
In June 2015, the ULMWP was granted MSG observer status as representative of West Papuans outside the country while Indonesia was upgraded to associate member.[8][9]
In October, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination initiated an early warning and urgent action procedure, and requested Indonesia to formally respond to allegations of racial violence by mid-November, where Indonesia never responded to the UN hearing.[citation needed]
Free West Papua protest in Melbourne, August 2012
In March 2017, at the 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, Vanuatu made a joint statement on behalf of Tonga, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands raising human rights abuses and requested that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights produce a report.[13][14] Indonesia replied that it rejected Vanuatu's allegations.[14] Also, a joint NGO statement was made raising the depopulation of indigenous West Papuans and health and medical services especially in remote areas.[15] Indonesia replied that the allegation of depopulation of Papuan community is simply baseless.[15]
In May 2017, eleven New Zealand parliamentarians from four political parties signed the Westminster Declaration, which calls for West Papua's right to self-determination to be legally recognised through an internationally supervised vote.[18]
In September 2017, at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, the Prime Ministers of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu once again raised human rights concerns and the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.[19] Vanuatu called for a Human Rights Council investigation into killings and human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces and appealed to world leaders to support self-determination with the Solomon Islands also calling for self-determination.[19][20] Indonesia denied all the allegations and stated that West Papua would remain part of Indonesia.[20]
On 26 September 2017, ULMWP spokesperson Benny Wenda claimed that at the United Nations General Assembly he presented a secret petition for self-determination signed by 1.8 million West Papuans to the Special Committee on Decolonization.[21][22] The Chair of the Special Committee on Decolonisation, Rafael Ramírez, subsequently responded that he had not received a petition and even if one was presented it would be outside the mandate of the committee. Ramírez said that the committee accepts Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua and that his office had been "manipulated" for political purposes.[23][24][25]
On 1 December 2017, Benny Wenda was elected Chairman of the ULMWP following an organisational restructure. Jacob Rumbiak now serves as the International Spokesperson.[26]
On 1 July 2019, the ULMWP announced that earlier in May West Papuan military factions had united under the one command to form the West Papua Army, including the West Papua Revolutionary Army (TRWP), the West Papuan National Army (TNPB) and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), with the command to be under "the political leadership of the ULMWP".[27] The TPNPB released a statement in response denying that it had merged and called for a retraction and apology and said it had withdrawn from the ULMWP following a ULMWP summit in Vanuatu in 2017.[28][29]
On 1 December 2020, the ULMWP announced it was forming a provisional government for the Republic of West Papua with a provisional constitution and that Benny Wenda would be the interim president.[30][31] However this declaration was rejected and not recognised by other rebel groups such as the TPNPB who stated that the ULMWP and Benny Wenda is a failure, and Benny Wenda is a British citizen and therefore cannot be President of West Papua.[32]
In November 2021, the ULMWP announced its Green State Vision at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, UK.[33] During a yearly session at the National Parliament of West Papua on 14–17 October 2022 in Jayapura, the ULMWP has set a temporary constitution.[34]
In September 2023, Menase Tabuni was appointed as the new President of ULMWP, replacing Benny Wenda, after a summit in Vanuatu. Markus Haluk was appointed as the new Secretary. Tabuni dissolved the provisional government of West Papua, but pledged to continue the struggle for independence.[35]
The leadership change in September 2023 was disputed by some members of ULMWP who then held a new congress in November 2023 in Jayapura.[36] The Jayapura congress resulted in the reinstatement of Benny Wenda as president of ULMWP.[37]
The Vanuatu summit faction of ULMWP does not recognize the congress in Jayapura and the subsequent reinstatement of Benny Wenda. On 27 November 2023, Menase Tabuni and Markus Haluk announced that ULMWP had suspended Benny Wenda's membership, along with several prominent figures connected to the Jayapura congress.[38]
The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) is a group of organisations seeking independence that was formed on 20 December 2005. Its current[update] Secretary General is Rex Rumakiek.[40]
The Coalition aims to raise the issue of West Papua in Oceania's regional organisations. It is seeking observer status for West Papua at the Melanesian Spearhead Group,[40] which it was granted in 2015,[41] and has announced it would request the Papua New Guinean government to bring up the question of West Papua at the Pacific Islands Forum.[42]
International support
Unlicensed graffiti in Vanuatu advocating for the liberation of West Papua
International non-governmental actors have also demonstrated their belief in the cause. Indonesia has criticised Vanuatu for undermining Indonesian sovereignty,[46] but it has not fettered their ongoing political and cultural support.[47]
Vanuatu maintains diplomatic relations with many countries, and it has a small network of diplomatic missions. Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, South Korea and the United Kingdom maintain embassies, High Commissions, or missions in Port Vila. The British High Commission maintained a continued presence for almost a century, though closed from 2005 until reopening in 2019.
The Free Papua Movement or Free Papua Organization is a name given to a separatist movement that aims to separate West Papua from Indonesia and establish an independent state in the region. The territory is currently divided into six Indonesian provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua, also formerly known as Papua, Irian Jaya and West Irian.
The Republic of West Papua, alternatively known as the Federal Republic of West Papua is a quasi-state consisting of the Western New Guinea region, which is currently part of Indonesia on the continent of Oceania. The region has been part of Indonesia since 1 May 1963 under several names in the following order, West Irian, Irian Jaya, and Papua. Today the region comprises six Indonesian provinces: Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, West Papua, and Southwest Papua.
The Act of Free Choice was a controversial plebiscite held between 14 July and 2 August 1969 in which 1,025 people selected by the Indonesian military in Western New Guinea voted unanimously in favor of Indonesian control.
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region is also called West Papua.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In June 2015, Indonesia was recognized as an associate member.
The Republic of Vanuatu has been a member of the United Nations since the year of its independence in 1980. The country was a particularly active member in the 1980s, when, governed by Prime Minister Father Walter Lini and represented by Ambassador Robert Van Lierop, it was a consistent advocate for decolonisation. Subsequently, its emphasis within the United Nations shifted to the issue of climate change and the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States.
The International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) are a cross-party political group of politicians from around the world who support self-determination for the people of the Indonesian region of West Papua.
Benny Wenda is a West Papuan independence leader and Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). He is an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was granted political asylum by the British government following his escape from custody while on trial.
The Papua conflict is an ongoing conflict in Western New Guinea (Papua) between Indonesia and the Free Papua Movement. Subsequent to the withdrawal of the Dutch administration from the Netherlands New Guinea in 1962 and implementation of Indonesian administration in 1963, the Free Papua Movement has conducted a low-intensity guerrilla war against Indonesia by targeting its military and police, along with ordinary Indonesian civilians.
Jacob Rumbiak is a West Papuan academic and political leader who has been in self-imposed exile in Australia after escaping from detention as a political prisoner for ten years in Indonesian gaols. Rumbiak is the Foreign Affairs representative of the Federated Republic of West Papua declared at the conclusion of the Third Papuan People's Congress on 19 October 2011. Rumbiak's advice from within West Papua to not attend the Congress for security reasons was vindicated in the crack-down which led to six deaths, hundreds of arrests and the sentencing of five of the principal figures to three years gaol each for treason.
Viktor Kaisiepo, also spelled Victor Kaisiepo, was a Netherlands New Guinean-born Dutch activist for West Papuan independence and self-determination. His family fled West Papua when its administration was transferred to Indonesia, and he lived in the Netherlands thereafter.
The National Committee for West Papua is an organization in Papua, Indonesia that campaigns peacefully for a self-determination referendum for Papuans. It was established on 19 November 2008 by a number of Papuan NGOs. The right to self-determination was provided for in an agreement between the Netherlands, Indonesia, and the UN in 1962.
The Wantok Blong Yumi Bill was a bill unanimously adopted by the Parliament of Vanuatu in June 2010. It was derived from a "People’s Petition", tabled in Parliament by Independent MP Ralph Regenvanu.
Buchtar Tabuni is a Papuan independence activist, Chairman of the National Parliament of West Papua (PNWP), incorporating the National Committee for West Papua, and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) representative.
Mako Tabuni was a Papua New Guinea activist for Papuan interests, and the deputy chairman of the National Committee for West Papua.
The Road to Home is a 2015 feature-length documentary about Benny Wenda, the West Papuan independence leader and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Since his escape from an Indonesian prison in 2002, where he was held in isolation and tortured as a political prisoner, Benny has been an unceasing crusader on the international scene, campaigning to bring about an end to the suffering of his people at the hands of Indonesia's colonial regime.
Indonesia–Solomon Islands relations refer to foreign relations between Indonesia and the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands has opened their embassy in Jakarta since August 2014 with Salana Kalu appointed as ambassador, while the Indonesian embassy in Port Moresby is accredited to the Solomon Islands. Indonesia is a gateway for Pacific countries to enter the ASEAN and Asian region, while it wishes to increase its influence in the Pacific Islands region. Both countries are the members of Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) where Indonesia is labeled as an associate state.
The 2019 Papua protests were a series of protests by Papuans in Indonesia that began on 19 August 2019 and mainly took place across Indonesian Papua region in response to the arrests of 43 Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java for alleged disrespect of the Indonesian flag. Many of the protests involved thousands of participants, and some grew from local protests in Surabaya to demanding an independence referendum for the whole region. In several locations, the protests turned into general riots, resulting in the destruction of government buildings in Wamena, Sorong and Jayapura. Clashes between protesters and police resulted in injuries, with over 30 people killed from both the clashes and the rioting.
References
1 2 3 "About ULMWP". United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
↑ "Representatives". United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
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